Download AgriProbe - Department of Agriculture: Western Cape

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Wild wild western cape Riaan Nowers & Sanet Briel It took some time, but at last the Western Cape is opening its doors to wildlife activities in a more structured way, thereby unlocking the Province’s ecotourism potential. If developed and supported responsibly by all involved, that is from the landowner to government institutions and nature conservation officials, this trend can be used to develop rural areas which are continuously under threat of depopulation, ageing populations and deteriorating infrastructure. This change in land-use, from traditional agricultural practices to practices enforced by economic realities and lifestyle changes, promises to have a positive impact on our Province’s natural resources. Once a landowner and his employees embark on a road of wildlife management/ farming practices, sustainable conservation practices are essential tosurvive over time. The embracing of a holistic view on species diversity managed at micro level, will encourage increased ruggedness in ecosystems, thereby increasing their sustainability to the benefit of other agricultural systems and mankind as a whole. This implies not only diversity in wildlife species, diversity in habitats, but also diversity in genetic pools and even diversity in human skills employed at grass-root levels. In order to facilitate and monitor these changing landuse patterns, the Department of Agirculture recognised the need for deeper involment and research into these dynamic practices. The first step in characterising this industry was to determine the what exactly is happening at grass root level. A recent survey produced interesting results, of value to this emerging subsector, as well as to institutions involved. This survey showed that the Western Cape wildlife industry experienced rapid growth the past ten years. At present there are at least 115 wildlife production units in operation, covering some 522 282 hectares of land. This area amounts to 4, 36% of the total area of agricul- AgriPROBE September 2007 tural land in The Western Cape. Now the question may be asked whether agricultural research, development and support institutions spend 4,36% of their time, efforts and money on this sector? This becomes more and more relevant as the survey further indicated that this industry is also a positive contributor to employ ment opportunities as some 565 permanent and 364 temporary jobs can be attributed directly to wildlife production on agricultural land. When combining ecotourism ventures to wildlife production systems, it seems that these systems generate more jobs per unit land than conventional agricultural systems, acting as positive job creators. It also seems that the skill levels of employees on these units are higher than those of the typical agricultural businesses in the same area. This phenomenon however needs further research. Respondents in the survey made it clear that they support further research on wildlife systems. The following topics were identified as areas which in particular are in need of deeper research: • Species distribution according to habitat; • Historical species distribution; • Nutrition; • Plant distributions and veld condition during various seasons; • Stocking rates and carrying capacities; • Adaptability of wildlife species in relocated areas; • Wildlife diseases; • Status and handling of problem animals; and • All issues regarding game meat, from marketing to specific qualities. The expansion of the wildlife industry from both the Northern and especially Eastern Cape is a natural phenomenon that needs to be nurtured in a responsible way. Too often individuals and some organizations regard it in a negative way and disregard the potential and opportunities available. What is called for is for all involved to take hands and to assist the Western Cape wildlife industry to become a true model of rational utilisation of land, maximizing the creation of jobs, the empowerment of people and increasing access to natural wildlife species. Photograph: Riaan Nowers 16
Ostrich nutrition and management 17 The ostrich industry is a predominantly South African industry, which, according to the latest figures provided by the Ostrich Business Chamber, produces about 70% of all the ostrich products in the world. The gross value of the industry in South Africa is about R 1 200 million per annum, while the feed production industry supplies feeds to the industry to the value of R 600 million per annum. The ostrich industry is a rapidly growing industry and markets for leather products with specific qualities are even extending to the motor industry, while the worldwide demand for low-fat and low-cholesterol ostrich meat is ever increasing. However, the industry suffers from a lack of reliable scientific information on the nutritional needs of ostriches, the real nutritive value of raw materials for ostriches as well as reliable nutritional management systems for ostriches. Variations in feed quality could result in variations in the quality of end products, which could jeopardise the demand for higher market prices. Feed prices constitute 70 – 80% of the total operational costs of an ostrich production unit, and any increase in reliable scientific information and management systems will enhance the profitability of the industry. That alone would lead to an extension in both the scope of opportunities and the profitability of the industry. Optimisation growth and feed models have already been developed overseas, for instance for poultry, turkeys and pigs, and are used with great success in these Prof Tertius Brand, Institute for Animal Production industries all over the world. These models are capable of taking into account various biological and animal-related factors, feed factors and the environment, as well as the interactions between these factors. A result is then produced in economic terms, together with a least-cost diet, to meet the needs of the animals at a specific stage to produce an end product of a specific quality as required by the market at that stage. These techniques will specifically benefit the ostrich industry, which provides a range of high-quality end products in terms of skins with specific qualities in keeping with market needs, high-priced cuts of meat and feathers (present income ratio of about 60:50:10), which will change from time to time in keeping with market changes. At present there are no such optimisation models or feeding systems in the ostrich industry. The end products of the ostrich industry (skins, meat and feathers) are also different from those in other industries and the same models cannot be applied. Such technology should, however, be developed as soon as possible to be applied within the ostrich industry in order to improve the competitiveness of the ostrich producing and ostrich feed manufacturing industry. A savings of 10% in feed costs, made possible by the use of an optimisation model and least-cost feed formulation program with reliable values for feeds, will lead to a saving of more than R55 million per annum for the South African ostrich industry. Our research team at the Elsenburg Animal Production AgriPROBE September 2007
Page 1 and 2: 1 AgriPROBE September 2007
Page 3 and 4: ndex Inhoudsopgawe 3 Partnerships t
Page 5 and 6: (September to April), to be used fo
Page 7 and 8: For the extensive small grain cropp
Page 9 and 10: Refiloe Thobejane, Institute for an
Page 11 and 12: territory will continue for several
Page 13 and 14: natural resource management, capaci
Page 15: The Zola Organic Farming Project, a
Page 19 and 20: Clippings Silver for Ters 19 Profes

Download AgriProbe - Department of Agriculture: Western Cape

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?